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Okay, for those unknowing, while This Exists is actually a pretty good show usually, with I don’t think they did the otherkin community justice in this ep, not just in the point-and-gawk tone* but; from what I can tell as someone not in that community; in understanding the symbolism and identification of that community.
So, I was wantin to ask any of the folks I follow who are in that group, such as @zitface, what did this video get wrong/miss about otherkin?
Because, I’m hoping to send the answers to the dude in the hope he’ll make a follow-up vid, because he seems ignorant on this subject; not malicious…
*Tho, at least the dude did say “What’s the harm in these practices, it’s just weird, don’t be jerks” in the end, which is more than you can say for the commentors on that vid…
I notice someone replied about how it’s associated with kids and identity disorders, so now I’m incapable of not correcting them and this. I’m on my way to work, so I can watch it and break it down later, but for NOW you can browse through these actual resources on nonhumanity to get an idea of where things might have gone wrong (x)
Alright, I’m home and not busy, so here I go @titleknown
Within the first minute I can tell this isn’t an unkind person, but he’s going right for the cringe by comparing average childhood daydreams to something he hasn’t even explained yet. That right there sets up the audience to be biased. I’m gonna shrug it off and continue.
The video of the two people crawling and jumping in the field is a bit much, too. For every 1 oddball who does that sorta thing in public for people to mock, there’s dozens of us going dear god, why. Is it bad to act on silly animal instinct? Not necessarily. Putting it on the internet is asking for exploitation however, and it’s the kind of thing people will zoom in on at warp speed. Irresponsible at best, but not really on him.
Around 2 minutes in and I’m impressed he brought up the issue of trolls, and how they’re fed by people making up ridiculous “”””otherkin””” posts that are just pure fodder. Most people don’t take the time to think critically about it, and assume that everything online with the word otherkin on it is serious. Which is pretty hilarious when they’re at the same time criticizing us for being stupid.
Also impressed that he did a little research into the online history outside of tumblr, and knows about therianthropy. However, he’s a little off by calling it “human shapeshifting”. iirc though, therians used to be known under the were community, so it’s an easy conclusion to jump to, and you’ll find a wide variety of human/animal symbolism in the community itself.
The fact that he looked so far back as to bring up “elfinkind”, which is literally where otherkind, and then later otherkin, came from, deserves a small trophy.
He’s clearly been reading some legitimate fictionkind blogs, since around 3:30 he talks about those of us who always knew we were something else, even before being exposed to whatever media we appear in. Still doing decently on the attention to detail here.
Now, he veers off. He describes multiplicity as a person with many kintypes, experiencing those kintypes as a single identity. That is not what multiplicity is, definitively speaking. So close, but not quite. Can the lines blur? Definitely, especially in the case of a multiple system with mental illness/derived from traumatic events, but his explanation is clumsy. It’s not a subject that can be condensed into a video like this.
But he gets back on track, and more cool detail! “Abby has multiple kintypes… maybe she even remembers that when she was Dirk, she remembered being Legolas.” I don’t know how common this is, but this is an experience that I can speak to, and some others. This is stuff that trolls usually miss in their ham-fisted attempts at humor, so I’m glad he’s getting his info from some reputable sources.
Oddly, after this, he explains multiplicity properly, with a host and headmates who are all individuals with their own personalities and unique identities.
Throughout this, he’s been civil. A little bemused, but nothing offensive or outrageous. And he begins to defend it as a harmless exploration of identity, which, sure, I’ll buy that. He even nods to the historical precedent of ancient humans and their own explorations with nonhuman symbolism. He describes these as “real and meaningful communities” that the internet has allowed to blossom whereas before they were isolated.
“It might seem silly on the outside that you spiritually identify as a penguin, but what difference does it make to ME?”
He asks for questions and comments at the end, and is very clearly expecting trolls to start frothing at the mouth before even finishing the video. I like his attitude. I think he’s just doing his best to provide a totally neutral and lighthearted look at something he might not completely understand, but doesn’t believe deserves any contempt or harassment.
“Be excellent to each other.” I like that. Truthfully, it’s too broad a subject to be covered in a few minutes, but it could’ve gone so wrong, and it didn’t. I’m pleasantly surprised, and if you’d like to share my reply with him, then feel free. Stamp of equally neutral approval from your local greymuzzle (new vocab! long-time community member, basically, not to be confused with furries or wonderful old dogs).
@hallowedbone He veers off a bit with the multiplicity/kintypes stuff because he does his own thing and then he uses large portions of my somewhat older writing almost verbatim. (The Abby/Dirk/Legolas stuff. I can pull up the exact post he pulled from)
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